After aging out of the foster-care system, Caeshel Sue Rae Allen became pregnant at 18. Now the father of her unborn child is in jail facing charges on domestic violence, and Caeshel is on her own, struggling to create the life she always wanted.

Each week, couples from different backgrounds and cultural traditions forgo the pomp and circumstance of a traditional wedding ceremony. They exchange vows on the second floor of the Athens County Courthouse, a two-story red-brick building built in 1880.

"Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves," wrote Henry David Thoreau. This photographic essay looks at some of those who are lost in plain sight.

Shawnee, Ohio, is a shadow of its former self. In 1872, the town was carved out of a hill in mineral-rich Southeast Ohio. Twenty years later, Shawnee boasted a population of 3,266, which has since steadily emptied down to 608 residents who face a decaying Main Street.